Senators should discuss foreign policy, not send letters

Opinion: Senators should air foreign policy issues on Senate floor, not by writing to Iranian ayatollahs

U.S. Sen. John McCain acknowledged his error when he told Fox News, "Maybe that wasn't exactly the way to do that." He was referring to the letter he and 46 other Republican Senators signed and sent to Iran's leaders in an attempt to frighten the Iranians from concluding a deal on the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Another signatory of this letter is Pennsylvania's U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. This is, after all, Pennsylvania where we have had signatories on the Declaration of Independence, mind you, not some state with a bunch of yahoos. Toomey made us look bad. His office replies he wants to "prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons." The best way to do that is to have an agreement with very tough inspections to verify compliance. That is better than war. Senators may have honorable disagreements with President Obama's policy, but these should be aired on the Senate floor and not by writing to Iranian ayatollahs.

Toomey needs to have more experience in foreign relations before he communicates with foreign leaders.